2110, 2014

Black History Month 2014: Papers of Sol Plaatje

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|21st October 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

As SOAS marks Black History Month we continue to hi-light historical collections held by SOAS Archives, which reveal the long-standing Black presence in the UK, as well as the contributions and achievements of Black peoples in local, national and international arenas. This week we look at the papers of Sol Plaatje, South African writer, linguist, politician and activist . Born on 9 October 1876, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was a descendant of the Barolong royal house. His

1410, 2014

Black History Month 2014: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o manuscripts in the Heinemann African Writers Series collection at SOAS Library

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|14th October 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

Today we continue our celebration of Black History Month 2014 by taking a closer look at some of the manuscripts by the leading Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, which are available at SOAS Archives as part of the Heinemann Educational Books Ltd collection. These include prepublication annotated typescripts of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s famous novels ‘Weep Not, Child’, ‘A Grain of Wheat’, ‘Devil on the Cross’ [translated version of Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ],

0710, 2014

Black History Month 2014: Papers of Robert Wellesley Cole

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|7th October 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

As SOAS marks Black History Month we will be highlighting a number of historical collections held by SOAS Archives, and which reveal the long-standing Black presence in the UK, as well as the contributions and achievements of Black peoples in local, national and international arenas. This week we look at the papers of Dr Robert Wellesley Cole, surgeon, author and advocate for the rights of African peoples in the UK, West Africa, and across the Global African

2308, 2014

Anti-slavery literature and papers within the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society Archive

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|23rd August 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

To mark the United Nations’ (UN) International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on 23rd August each year, we are highlighting some papers collected and created by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society on the campaign against slavery. The archive of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society, held at SOAS, contains the minutes, correspondence, visual material and personal papers, documenting the missionary endeavours around the globe of a

1208, 2014

World Indigenous Day: Survival International Papers on Resettlement in Ethiopia

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|12th August 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

To mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – which took place on the 9th August – we are today highlighting the Survival International collection of research papers on resettlement and villagisation in Ethiopia which are available at SOAS Archives. Survival International & Resettlement and Villagisation in Ethiopia Survival International is a global human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) which campaigns for the protection of the rights of tribal, indigenous,

1205, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: The ‘Bombay Africans’

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|12th May 2014|Collections & Research|2 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives is running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, until 17 May 2014. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. As the British Navy began to crack down on the East Coast slave trade, they were faced with the question of what to do with the hundreds of young enslaved

0904, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: Jan Tzatzoe

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|9th April 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives is running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, until May 2014. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. This time, we look at the broader historical context and the role of African converts in scriptural translation. Missionaries sought to provide translations of Christian texts to their congregations. In order

2603, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: Sechele

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|26th March 2014|Collections & Research|2 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives is running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, until May 2014. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. Sechele I was Kgosi, or chief of the baKwena, in modern-day Botswana, from 1831 until his death in 1892. Sechele is seen as a visionary leader, warrior and modernizer who laid